British Billiard Table Makers and their Table Plates. Rev. 2
It was probably John Thurston, who, about 1820, first decided to put an ivory plaque on his tables to identify them as being of his manufacture. Although, if he was the originator, he was quickly followed by his peers, and the table plate became a standard feature from that date onwards. In this volume I have included as many of the plates as I can find which were issued by British billiard table manufacturers and repairers who started trading before the 1960s. The intention is to assist in narrowing down a date of production and provide some history and general information about the people involved.
There are many more British manufacturers which I would have liked to have included, but have limited this work to those for whom I have an example of at least one table plate to use as an illustration. While this remains an electronic publication there will be scope to add additional plates and new makers as the examples present themselves.
This second edition includes a number of new manufacturer profiles and many additional illustrations which have been acquired since this book was first published. There have also been a few corrections to date ranges for some entries.
Peter Ainsworth
This book is published with the permission of its author. The public part of Peter Ainsworth’s collection is available via the following link: https://www.flipsnack.com/hylandbilliards/.